Before the Aftermath
by Sanemi
Summary: Fate knew that they were meant to be together, but would they?
1. Chapter One: Stars

I do not own the characters, all of this is just my imagination of to how they may have met before what they show in the game. Now on to the story!!!

_Chapter One: Stars _

The sun rose on the bustling city while neighbors greeted each other. The brown hair girl still slept while everyone else went to their jobs of the last work day of the week. She slept in while she could otherwise she probably wouldn't get sleep. Only a few short minutes after sunrise her phone rang, waking her from her pleasant and deep sleep. Picking up the phone, she hit the 'talk' button.

"Good morning, this is Lenne," she sat up in bed, brushing the brown strands of hair from her brown left eye and her right blue eye.

"This is the manager over at the stadium. I'm afraid there has been a problem. Can you make it down here in an hour?" The man asked.

Lenne looked at the clock and suppressed a groan, she had only gone to bed just an hour ago. They had been setting up and practicing for her concerts this week which ran well into the night like usual. After thinking it over she realized the man on the other end was still waiting for her answer.

"Yes…an hour is good. I'll be there."

"I'll see you then."

Hitting the 'end' button, Lenne flopped back onto her bed, groaning. After a few minutes of just laying there she rose from the bed, stripping off her huge shirt and underwear as she walked towards the bathroom. When her shower was done and she was fully dressed she only applied a little makeup to hide the shadows under her eyes. With that done she grabbed her cell phone from her bed side table along with her keys and headed out the door.

She stepped onto the nearest moving sidewalk and began the trip to the stadium for the fifth time in two days. When she reached the stadium it was in blitzball form, as if they had a game or practice. The guard at the gate nodded at her and let her pass. The manager wasn't in his office so she went out into the stands. She saw him on the opposite side, by the locker rooms and made her way over to him. Upon reaching him she sat down in the chair next to him.

"All right, what was so important that you woke me up so early?" Lenne asked, rather annoyed.

"I'm afraid we over booked the stadium. My assistant had forgotten that there was a blitzball tournament game tonight. The D-Section Duggles against the B-Section Blazers, I didn't realize it until this morning when I looked at the paper work."

"Great…so what am I supposed to do?" Lenne had also forgotten, and she was a Blazer fan, even went to all the games.

"Well, we could always reschedule?" Firla said.

"I don't think my manager will like that very much…" Lenne said, thinking about her money crazed manager.

"Well we should wait for our other party member. Perhaps you know him or at least heard of him…he's the captain of the Blazers, Shuin."

Of course she'd heard of him, who in their right mind hadn't. Captain of the B-Section Blazers, and the youngest member of the Blitzball league ever. Not to mention he was so damn hot, Lenne practically had a shrine made of his pictures in her office back at her apartment. If Lenne was waiting for the right guy, she'd be lonely forever, because her standards were set pretty high, they had to be like Shuin. Just as talented, hot, sexy and irresistible as him. Lenne must have drifted off because the next thing she heard was Firla's voice, and she brought herself out of the daydream in the middle of his sentence. She didn't really need to hear the first half of the sentence to know what he had said, because here was the hottest player to ever pass through the sport of blitzball jogging towards them.

When he reached them she had to restrain herself, because his hair was wet from practice and she just wanted to maul him. He shook hands with the manager and his lips were moving but Lenne didn't hear a word because her eyes were locked on the way his lips moved. The manager must have said something strange because Shuin stopped moving completely. Then he slowly turned his head in Lenne's direction, seeing her for the first time. For a moment it seemed like time had stopped as his light blue eyes met with her entrancing eyes.

"Lenne, this is Shuin, captain of the Blazers," Firla's voice broke through the trance.

She smiled, one of her more rare smiles, or more like one of the one's she had when she daydreamed about him and extended her hand. She was the first to break the silence between the two.

"Hello, it's nice to meet you."

As if he too had to pull himself out of a dream, he extended his hand and when their skin touched it was as if fire spread through her body. _If just a small touch like this could send fire dancing across my skin I wonder what it would be like too…_ A light blush came to her cheeks and she quickly tossed the thought away to dwell on later.

"Same here," Shuin said.

"So what are we going to do about the situation?" Firla asked.

"I'll postpone it, I'm sure my manager won't mind if we wait a week or two. I mean, I go to a lot of blitzball games and I just forgot about this one," Lenne said.

"You don't have to postpone. You can have it tonight," Shuin said, trying hard to take his eyes from her.

"But the blitzball tournament is tonight…I don't think people will be happy if that gets cancelled," Lenne said.

"We'll both play. You can go on before the game, it'll be like a double feature. I sure don't want to have to wait a week or two for you to perform…" he paused, before realizing that it might sound like he was a huge fan of hers. "Uh…I mean…um…You know…lots of people go to your concerts too. It might be bad to cancel that as well."

Lenne smiled and Shuin followed suit, although his was a little sheepish, he was obviously a fan of hers as well.

"I like that idea," Lenne said, still smiling. If truth be told, she'd like any idea of his, especially since he was standing right in front of her.

"Good, I'm glad you like it…" He took a breath as if he had forgotten to breathe.

"Well, since I'm here and you're not surrounded by a bunch of screaming fans, I want to wish you good luck with the game tonight. Unfortunately I won't be able to make it seeing as how I forgot about it in the first place, I didn't buy any tickets. I'll just have to watch it on the sphere," Lenne said, turning to leave.

Shuin's voice stopped her. "I have an extra ticket…That is…if you'd still like to go…"

Lenne turned back toward him to see him searching his pockets for it. When he found it, he pulled it out of his pocket and held it out for her. Taking it she looked at it, realizing that this wasn't just a ticket, but much more.

"This is a season pass to every game the Blazers play, not to mention a backstage pass and a locker room pass. These cost a lot of money," Lenne studied him.

He shrugged. "Every player gets one for their family…but, I don't have anyone to give it to…So you can have it…or if you don't want it you can return it after the game. I know that the season's almost over anyway."

Without thinking, Lenne launched herself at him and gave him a tight hug, he was surprised for a moment, but then hugged her back. After they let go, there were light blushes staining their cheeks. Lenne began to dig through her purse and pulled out a similar looking ticket and handed it to him. It was almost the same thing as what he had just gave her, except instead of a locker room pass, it was a dressing room pass, and a stage pass to come up and dance with her. He looked up at her, a look of shock upon his face.

"Even for a high paid Blitzer like myself, I'd still have to sell my soul to get this deal," Shuin said, knowing that these cost twice of what the deluxe blitzball package did.

"I know…It's so not many people can get them. Think of what it would be like if twenty people were up on stage, most of them trying to maul me. Then in the dressing room, where they'd want to steal your things…So Kilai puts them over most people's heads…We only sell one a year, to the same guy every year, and the others I hand out myself and only those are for maybe one or two concerts at a time, but this one will get you in all year."

He grabbed her, but instead of just hugging her, he gave her a passionate kiss, then after realizing what he was doing, pulled away, the blushes on their faces were almost a dark red.

"Sorry…" Shuin muttered.

"It's okay," Lenne responded.

"So I'll guess I'll see you tonight, at the concert-game," Shuin said.

"I guess so," Lenne said.

"Well…see you later then," Shuin said, turning back toward the locker rooms.


	2. Chapter Two: Perfect Couple

Once again I do not own the characters, but the plot was dreamed up by me.

_Chapter Two: Perfect Couple_

A knock came at Lenne's dressing room door and Kilai stuck his head in when she responded. He had black hair, that was usually greased back and a dark suit of some kind, a gold watch adorned his left wrist, which sometimes Lenne wanted to smash. As usual he pointed to his watch, telling her to hurry up, but it looked like something else was on his mind as well.

"What is it now?" Lenne asked, with a sigh.

"Oh, it's just some guy is at the gate telling the guards that you gave him a deluxe pass and he's raising quite a ruckus."

"You mean Shuin?" Lenne stood, turning away from the mirror.

"Shuin? Do you know him?"

"Dark dirty blonde hair, light blue eyes, 14, 5'4", Captain of the Blazer team, youngest member of the Blitzing team ever recorded in history. Of course I know him, I met him this morning when the stadium's manager called me about over booking."

"Oh…him, the guy you know too much about that it's almost like a stalker? So you cancelled the blitzball tournament game? There are going to be some angry fans."

"No we didn't cancel the game, I'm going to perform before the game. I am not stalking him…just his games…I don't know where he lives, except the obvious fact that it's in the B-Sector since he plays for the Blazers…"

"So you give him a deluxe pass, because…?" Kilai asked.

"Because I had forgotten about the game and didn't have time to buy a ticket and he gave me a season pass with backstage, and locker room passes. So I gave him one of our good ones, no one ever buys them anyway."

"So what will you do if you're in his locker room, steal his boxers?" Kilai asked, a smirk on his face.

Lenne blushed before answering. "He doesn't wear boxers…"

"Briefs then," Kilai suggested.

"He doesn't wear anything. Okay, is that what you wanted to hear?" Lenne said a deeper blush on her face. She went back to the mirror to take her mind from Shuin and the little fact that he didn't wear any kind of underwear. "Just let him in."

"Are you sure you want to now that you're obviously into him and blushing like crazy?" Kilai said.

She flashed him a dirty look before going back to the mirror. "Just do it."

"Now don't be getting any kinky ideas about him before the show…I think it might be mass murder if neither the concert nor the game played tonight…"

Lenne picked up a brush and flung it at Kilai, but instead hit the closing door. Now that she'd be thinking about it all night a blush would be staining her cheeks for a while. There was a good thing about being a girl, you can cover anything with makeup and make it look natural. A knock at the door and Lenne made sure everything was perfect before going for the door. Quickly picking up the hairbrush she had thrown and hiding it behind her back with one hand while the other opened the door, a smile on her face.

When she saw him, her breath caught in her chest. If she didn't have to perform she might have had to roll around with him for a while. His black pants hugged his body tightly, revealing that he really didn't wear anything underneath and his dark red and black shirt wasn't even buttoned all the way, revealing his smooth, hard chest. As usual it looked like he didn't do anything with his hair, but that's the way Lenne liked it. When Shuin let his eyes travel down her body, she felt her blush darkening. Whether it was her body he was checking out, or her outfit, which was tightly clinging to her body he approved with a smile. Kilai walked passed the two of them, a smirk on his face and tapping his watch to let her know it was time.

"Well, shall we then?" Lenne asked.

"Yeah. Then maybe later I can take you out to dinner, I know I haven't eaten yet, and by the time this is all done I'll be starving," Shuin asked.

Something in Shuin's eyes made her drift from the thought of food and just skipping straight to 'desert'. Her blush didn't darken this time, but she ducked her head and moved passed him toward the stage lift. Kilai was there, waiting to give instructions to them, since they had changed in less than twenty four hours. He moved Shuin to where the guest usually stood and told him what he needed to do. Shuin nodded and kept stealing glances at Lenne, not catching what he was supposed to do.

"Lenne wears black and blue lace underwear," Kilai said.

Shuin's head whipped back around to look at him. "Is that so?"

"I don't know…I was just trying to get your attention…You'll have to ask Lenne if you really want to know."

Shuin gave him a death glare and Kilai began to go over again. Shuin did keep looking at Lenne, but managed to hear what he was saying. "If you move here, you'll be able to catch nice glimpses of Lenne's behind…when you do, you'll know what kind of underwear she wears."

Shuin raised an eyebrow, wondering if it was true this time around. "It's true…She does cartwheels and flips and this is the best place to catch it if it's going to happen."

The platform went up, the lights flashing and the music pounding. A few glances to the side told Shuin that the manager had been right about the underwear, which made him wonder how he knew. After the show, when the platform was out of site of the audience Lenne came bouncing over to him. Immediately hugging him, he was surprised for a minute, but wrapped his arms around her as well.

"That was great! I don't think I've ever seen anyone take to the stage like you did…but then again, you are already a star so it probably wasn't too hard," Lenne said, a light blush coming to her cheeks.

"Hey, dancing in front of the crowd was no small task. At least I know I'm good at Blitzball. It must be really nerve racking to do that day after day. I'm a mess just after one time."

Lenne laughed and Shuin almost thought there was music for a minute, but smiled at Lenne instead of making any comments. "It's what I love to do, so there is no problem doing it day after day. It's just like you and Blitzball. You love to do it, you're good at it, so once you get in the water all that's left to do is feed your talent."

"Yeah…but most of the time it's the adrenaline. And it's no wonder I have talent, I mean my father was the all famous, Jecht himself," Shuin said quietly.

"Jecht is your father! I had no idea, in all of the interviews that I've seen whenever the subject of parents came up, you always had nothing to say," Lenne said, also keeping her voice down.

"Yeah, well dad kept saying that I was too good to be a shadow of him, so I should make a name for myself before revealing that little secret to the world. So you have to promise not to tell anyone," Shuin said, wondering if he should have told her in the first place.

"What if I don't?" Lenne asked, jokingly.

"Well, then, I guess I'll just have to kill you…I can't have my secret escaping out just yet," Shuin said, also jokingly.

"All right, I promise. If I should breathe a word, may the stadium come down upon my head, or a meteor strike me dead. That way I won't have to suffer at your hands…" Lenne smiled and laughed at the same time and Shuin thought that it was the most beautiful thing in the entire world.

"Now, let's seal it with a kiss."

"Hey! Promises are never sealed with a kiss," Lenne said, lightly hitting his arm.

"I know…but if you die, I want to at least be able to say that I got to kiss you before you died, it's for the public, you know how it goes…" Shuin said, also smiling.

Lenne fake sighed like kissing him wasn't a task she wanted to perform, but the smile on her face told him it was a lie. "All right, if it's for the good of the public."

Shuin wrapped his arms around Lenne's waist and pulled her close, almost gasping when their bodies came in contact. He could see the light blush forming on Lenne's cheeks and he smiled before placing his lips on hers gently. It started off as a tender, soft kiss but it quickly became a passionate, fervent kiss. Lenne's hands found their way to his open shirt, shyly playing with the edges. Shuin let his hands leave her hips to travel up and down the sides of her body. One of his hands went up her back to play with her chin length hair while one of hers boldly touched his chest her fingers curling lightly scratching his skin.

Shuin felt goose bumps rise on his arms and he tightened an arm around her, pulling her closer. Lenne groaned as their bodies melted into each other and Shuin lifted a corner of his lips in response. Never had Shuin experienced a kiss like this in the fourteen years he'd been alive, this was the best kiss he ever had. Lenne lightly moved her hips against his and Shuin groaned before quickly pushing her away. He left his hands on her hips, unable to pull himself away from her completely yet and closed his eyes.

"Did I do something wrong, Shuin?" Lenne asked softly.

Shuin opened his eyes, looked up at Lenne and seeing the slight fear in her eyes he pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her waist. He rested his chin on the top of her head.

"No…but if you do that again I'll probably play the worst game of Blitzball in history. If that happened not only would the crowd come to kill me but my coach would either bench me or boot me off the team," Shuin said, rubbing her back with one of his hands.

"Speaking of which, shouldn't you be getting to the locker rooms to get ready?" Lenne asked.

"Shit!" Shuin let go of her. He began to run for the locker rooms, but after a few feet he stopped, ran back to her. Wrapping his arms around her, he dipped her and kissed her passionately before placing her firmly on her feet again. This time when he ran he didn't stop but he did call back over his shoulder to her. "I think your hair would look better long!"

Lenne laughed but didn't say anything in response, but instead headed back towards her dressing room. When she saw Kilai in the hallway he raised an eyebrow and had a devious smirk on his face. Giving him the worst death glare ever daring him to say something with her eyes she continued on her way. After changing into something a little less glamorous she headed toward her seat showing her pass to the guards at the gate. Instead of cheering and watching the whole game like she usually did, she just watched Shuin the entire time, whether he had the ball or not. As usual, ever since Shuin joined the Blazers two years ago, the Blazers won the game which meant that one more win and they would be this year's champions.

After the game she got up from her seat and headed down toward the locker rooms where she had a clear path away from all of the reporters. She saw most of the players in the hallway, with either their families or just their equipment. The guard at the locker room door first checked her pass, then the locker room to make sure there weren't any indecent men. When he came back out, he held the door open for her and she entered the locker room for the first time. The blazers colors, red and black were painted on the walls and the lockers were either black or red. As she stood near the door the rest of the players walked by her, some of them smiled and continued on their way, although one of the boys who smiled almost seemed to know something secret. She spotted Shuin sitting on one of the benches, with a towel over his head, trying to dry his hair.

Once again he was back in the outfit he had on when she first saw him tonight, even though he had yet to button it, revealing his broad, chiseled chest. Trying not to let herself blush she made her way over to him and stood there until he lifted the towel from his head and stood up. He must not have noticed her, because instead of stepping back away from her, they were standing extremely close to each other. His breath caught in his chest as he looked down at her, taking in her new outfit. Her skirt was black with red roses embroidered on it and Shuin could see that it had slits on both sides of her body, which revealed long black fishnet stockings. Her shirt was a dark red, matching the red flowers of her skirt, and over it was a black sheer flower patterned fabric. The red cloth didn't go down her arms, but the black fabric did, flaring out when it reached her elbows. Down the front of her shirt her skin showed between the black laces and Shuin was tempted to reach out and touch it, but he resisted the urge by throwing his towel into the basket with the others.

He had to tear his eyes from her to grab his bag which lay between the lockers and the benches. When he stood and looked at her he couldn't help but let his eyes travel down her body one more time. His eyes reached her face and by the smile on her face he could tell that she had noticed him checking himself and he mentally kicked himself for making it so obvious unlike the other times he'd done it today.


End file.
